I don't think that's quite the right way to look at it. All salvation is after death. We are all appointed to die and then the judgment. But, what we are saved from is judgment; the condemnation of a just yet negative judgment (all have sinned and fallen short). If anyone is saved, it is after death. That's why Paul can say we are being saved. In the interim between death and judgment, who knows? Well, God knows. I think it's premature to assume there is no mercy beyond the grave. It certainly is not impossible for God.
Making an appeal to a parable in Matthew that clearly states salvation is the result, not of faith and grace, but good works is a dubious approach for someone who claims tradition is on their side. The tradition holds that salvation is by grace through faith, good works being a necessary outcome of life in the Spirit. There is an inherent tension between the doctrine of grace and the church tradition of guarunteed eternal condemnation.
Since the doctrine of grace is the case, all of us are goats since all have fallen short. This parable is a warning. A warning is not a guarantee of a particular outcome. We are all goats and by grace made sheep. Our good works are simply appropriate sheep behavior, but we are sheep by grace.
There is no reason to read that parable as anything other than a warning, which is fitting. Y'all goats should straighten up and love each other. Visit each other and care for each other, for goodness' sake. But there is no reason, given the doctrine of grace, to assume God can't make all goats sheep. Grace is grace, not a reward. The doctrine of guaranteed eternal condemnation assumes against the freedom and sovereignty of God. There are no guarantee but grace.
